No EU Mission in Kosovo Without the UN SC Approval
Serbia Rejects Replacing UN with (Solana’s) EU Mission
The UN Security Council is the only international body with a mandate to decide about the Kosovo-Metohija administration and security — this can in no way become the issue which the EU High Representative Javier Solana can solve to his liking, the cabinet of the Serbian Prime Minister told Beta news agency Friday.
The same source confirmed that Serbian government has strongly reacted on numerous occasions to the signals that the “EU Mission” could take over the UN posts in Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija without the UN Security Council mandate, which is the only international body that can provide the legal framework for such setup.
Solana Should Submit his Ingenious Ideas to the UN SC for Approval
Serbian government has rejected the deployment of the EU Mission that was to replace the United Nations Mission in Kosovo back in July, when United States representatives have submitted the so-called minimalist resolution to the UN Security Council for adoption. This document was envisioning the replacement of the UNMIK with the EU mission, in accordance with the Martti Athisaari’s (i.e. The Nazi’s) proposal.
The joint position of Russia and Serbia has succeeded in securing the political will in the UN Security Council which rejected such resolution.
The Serbian government source assessed that it is obvious certain Western powers are now working on finding ways to bypass the UN Security Council entirely.
“They decided that, if what they want can’t be done in accordance with the legal norms, they’ll bypass the law altogether. Serbia will reject every decision regarding its Kosovo-Metohija province which has not been approved by the UN Security Council, including the one regarding the EU mission. Javier Solana should submit all of his ideas to the Security Council, which is the only authoritative body that can reach decisions,” the Premier Cabinet representative said.
Both the EU and OSCE Missions in Kosovo Illegal Without the UN SC Resolution
According to the Beta agency, the EU diplomatic sources have confirmed that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has met with Havier Solana on Thursday to discuss EU High Representative’s request to deploy the EU mission in Serbian Kosovo province at the start of next year.
Reportedly, Solana insists on replacing the UN Mission in Kosovo province with the EU bureaucrats, policemen and special troops, despite the lack of the legal basis for such a move. Backed by the US State Department and the few of the wealthiest Western European states, Solana proposes that the UN Secretary General issues a declaration which would enable the EU to secure thousands of jobs in war-ravaged southern Serbian province for EU’s incompetent, unemployable and useless bureaucrats.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica today reiterated that “there is no way in which contrary to Resolution 1244 an EU mission can be set up to replace UNMIK.”
Russia shares Serbian opposition to the attempts at bypassing the UN Security Council. Russian representative in the international mediating troika, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko joined Serbian officials yesterday, stressing that Russia is not against the EU mission in Kosovo province in general, but that Moscow could support such mission only if there is the new UN Security Council resolution which would legalize the move.
“Without the UN SC resolution, such mission would be illegal. OSCE also needs the legal basis for continuing its mission in the Serbian province,” Botsan-Kharchenko reminded.
UN Legal Experts: Secretary General Cannot Overrule Security Council Resolutions with “Declarations”
Today, the United Nations legal experts have said that there is virtually no possibility for the UN Secretary General to issue a special declaration that would be based on specific (mis)interpretations of the elements of Resolution 1244, thus providing a semi-legal cover for the deployment of the EU mission in Serbian province.
“It is highly unlikely, even impossible, for something like that to happen, since the Secretary General’s role in such situations is merely procedural,” Tanjug news agency was told by the UN law office.
The UN legal experts explained that, when it comes to giving a legal mandate to missions, the Secretary General’s involvement ends at the moment the Security Council adopts a resolution.
“During his mandate, the Secretary General can issue appeals and insist on the full implementation of the resolution, but there is absolutely no way for him to influence the content of the resolution,” the UN lawyers said.
Tough Luck: Only the Security Council Can Annul or Change Security Council Resolutions
According to the UN lawyers, the UN Security Council resolution such as Resolution 1244 which has enabled the UNMIK deployment in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo, can be annulled only by the sole international executive body — the UN Security Council itself.
The East River legal experts and diplomats told Tanjug that the announced attempt of the replacement of the UN Mission in Kosovo with the civil and security administration of the European Union will present the severe challenge to the Western diplomats, mostly because there are no hints that the Security Council could agree to end the involvement of the world’s organization in Kosovo-Metohija province.
Artwork by Zoran Spasojevic (Serbia)
Comments
KOLUBARA - 1914
In some fifty tongues the two generations’ old book says: “We know from experience that it is a thousand-time easier to reconstruct the facts of an era than its spiritual atmosphere”. ... All done, all said. An iota asked, perhaps?
The folk tune afresh:
“We don’t want to fight, But by jingo if we do, We got the men, We got the ships, We got the money too.” The tune, as It was, rings in our days at ease. Soul’s dream, else’s a nightmare, have they ever got hand in hand?
* * * * *
The Opera spiked the Brits’ line. It went on a jump in overtime: by blue this, or tint that, it misses the Drina’s single tread. The river bent, curled and crept, straight into the dreams and nightmare. How to halt it, how to hook it? Flip over by the swipe?
CVH’s the Polyglot Army: made of A, G, H, P, Cz, Cr, ... motley of a known book ... Tzar’s Corporal – Marshal of the “Y” – strayed into the Drina’s backwoods: pastures, streams, hamlets dressed in white.
Flatly beaten at Drina, they took another try. They had chosen a lesser river, Kolubara, win the battle: stride, sing, ... or die?
On the march Polyglot Army stripped the land of all alive. Reiss the Swiss had a plenty to see, tell and print. At that he stood firm in spite of voices from the side – to make up, to resign.
The work of a genius, or by the force of providence, or by the virtue of both the lot had glowed. Weaken as they were the Serbs held the ground. Hill by hill, the battle line shrank, forces fused: the swift counterattack broke the soft grass, the immense sky.
Polyglot Army chased by the wind, gloried to an eternal crown: they would come with Bismark’s Grenadiers, next time, ... next time?
/PDJGBP - 2006/(86 - CVH: Conrad von Hotzendorf)
Posted by: DJGB Popadich | December 1, 2007 09:11 AM